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Elizabeth looking cold in the water but very happy

Lunch, a walk, and a swim in the Cairngorms

We’re just back from a tremendous day in the Cairngorms with Grandad. First was an early lunch at the Bothy which overlooks the Clunie River so you can sit outside and eat your lunch right next to this. We swam in it last year.

Clunie Water from the Bothy
Clunie Water looking upstream from the Bothy
A selfie of all of us next to our table at the bothy with the river behind.
Ben, Elizabeth, Daniel, and Dad sitting down for lunch.

Next up was a quick sticky-beak in The Fife Arms.

Dad, Daniel, and Elizabeth at the Fife Arms beneath all the animal heads.
Another angle of Dad, Daniel, and Elizabeth at the Fife Arms beneath all the animal heads.

Then we went for a walk in the Ballochbuie forest on the Balmoral Estate. This is one of the largest remnants of the ancient Caledonian pine forest that used to cover much of Scotland. It only survives today thanks to Queen Victoria who bought it specifically to prevent it from being felled. This was apparently the first act of woodland conservation in Scotland. It really is a beautiful forest.

The Ballochbuie Forest
View from the bridge of the Grabh Allt falls showing a burn lined with trees and hills in the distant that still have specs of snow.

And of course we went for a swim in the icy falls of Grabh Allt, with pristine water straight from the snow melt on the surrounding hills. I don’t know what the water temperature was but probably 8 or 9C, or so it felt.

Elizabeth looking cold in the water but very happy
Me and Daniel in the water beneath the waterfall.
Rachel and Daniel swimming beneath the waterfall.
Ben in the water.
Elizabeth, Rachel, and Daniel with the burn behind us.
Ben, Elizabeth, Rachel, and Daniel on the rocks in front of the waterfall and burn.
A selfit of the five of us from the bridge with the hills in the distant background.
Me on the bridge with the river, forest, and hills behind me.

And the walk back was lovely.

The river Dee looking downstream.
The river Dee looking upstream.
The River Dee from the Invercauld Bridge
Elizabeth, Ben, Daniel, and Dad on the Invercauld bridge with hills in the background.

Swimming, walks, good company, terrific scenery – what more could we want?

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4 responses to “Lunch, a walk, and a swim in the Cairngorms”

  1. Keith Wilkinson MBE Avatar
    Keith Wilkinson MBE

    Makes me very envious of your pristine rivers in Northern Scotland….we, down here in England, are experiencing the worst pollution (sewage & agriculture primarily) in my lifetime (1943-2023). Our teams of volunteers here in Harrogate (many in their late 70s or early 80s) are testing river water quality for ‘dissolved solids’ and E-Coli – the results make grim reading. Certainly not safe to swim down here …..

    Reply
    1. Rachel M Avatar
      Rachel M

      That is very sad. Tragic almost! I do feel very fortunate to have such clean rivers for swimming in the north east of Scotland. I know they make a particular effort to keep the waterways clean here because of the salmon. But the population is also much smaller and less dense than in England so it’s probably easier to do.

      Reply
      1. Keith Wilkinson MBE Avatar
        Keith Wilkinson MBE

        Tragic is the word. Sorry to get political – but when the U.K. embarked upon ‘privatising the Water Industry’ back in the late 1980s it was decided to sell off both sewerage and potable water together. Only England & Wales (in the world) took that approach. Scotland & Ulster kept conventional control of their sewerage – and the difference shows….

      2. Rachel M Avatar
        Rachel M

        Yes, that is true. Our water is still in public hands.

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